The Weeknd and Daft Punk face R72.7m lawsuit over hit song 'Starboy'

Recording artist The Weeknd. Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP

Recording artist The Weeknd. Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP

Published Sep 20, 2018

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The Weeknd and Daft Punk are being taken to court by a woman who claims the pair copied her song 'Hooyo' on their hit song 'Starboy'.

The 'Can't Feel My Face' rapper and 'Get Lucky' hitmakers have been accused of copying the work of Somali-American poet Yasminah on the 2016 track.

According to TMZ, the latter is suing the pair for at least $5 million ( about R72 785 000) for allegedly "ripping off" her 1999 song 'Hooyo'.

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The R&B artist is convinced that the musicians copied several of the beats, tempo and hooks on the track from The Weeknd's album of the same name.

In legal documents obtained by the gossip website, Yasminah states that she has seen several articles on blog sites and social media which comment on the similarities in the two songs.

Yasminah's producers reportedly previously took the pair to court over 'Starboy', but she never received a penny from the cases.

'Starboy' also provided the inspiration for The Weeknd's very own Marvel Comics series.

Issue one of 'The Weeknd Presents: Starboy' was released in June, and stars the rapper himself as the hero. 

Speaking previously about his superhero alter ego, the 28-year-old star - whose real name is Abel Tesfaye - said: "'Starboy' is the next chapter in this chronicle, this saga. 

"I guess this is the fourth chapter. He's a character that we created. It's so funny, we want to create a comic out of him as well [...] He's a cool, dope character that makes appearances a lot on the album. 

"He's definitely made his appearance in different records in the past as well. He's a more braggadocios character that we all have inside of us."

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